New Online from U.S. Census: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011

In March 2011, for the first time ever, more than 30 percent of U.S. adults 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. As recently as 1998, fewer than one-quarter of people this age had this level of education.

“From 2001 to 2011, the number of Hispanics with a bachelor’s or higher education increased 80 percent from 2.1 million to 3.8 million. The percentage of Hispanics with a bachelor’s or higher education increased from 11.1 percent in 2001 to 14.1 percent in 2011. Overall, the increase in the proportion of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher went from 26.2 percent to 30.4 percent.

“This is an important milestone in our history,” Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said. “For many people, education is a sure path to a prosperous life. The more education people have the more likely they are to have a job and earn more money, particularly for individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree.”

A collection of national-level tables from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). These tables present statistics on the levels of education achieved by various demographic characteristics, as well as changes over time. Historical tables go back to the late 1940s, when the CPS first began collecting data on attainment.

Shows the monthly employment rates by educational attainment from January 2008 to December 2010, along with other information on education from the American Community Survey (ACS), the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) and the monthly Current Population Survey.

Eexamines the relationship between educational attainment, fields of study, and eventual occupation and earnings. The statistics were collected between January and April 2009 from the Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.